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Megaloceros (from Greek: μεγαλος + κερας , literally "Great Horn"; see also Lister (1987)) is an extinct genus of deer whose members lived throughout Eurasia from the Pleistocene to the early Holocene. The Type species and only undisputed member of the genus, Irish elk, vernacularly known as the "Irish elk" or "giant deer", is also the best known. Fallow deer are thought to be their closest living relatives.Lister, A. M., Edwards, C. J., Nock, D. A. W., Bunce, M., van Pijlen, I. A., Bradley, D. G., Thomas, M. G. & Barnes, I. 2005. The phylogenetic position of the 'giant deer' Megaloceros giganteus. Nature 438, 850-853.Mennecart, B., deMiguel, D., Bibi, F., Rössner, G. E., Métais, G., Neenan, J. M., Wang, S., Schulz, G., Müller, B. & Costeur, L. 2017. Bony labyrinth morphology clarifies the origin and evolution of deer. Scientific Reports 7: 13176.Gonzalez, S., Kitchener, A. C. & Lister, A. M. 2000. Survival of the Irish elk into the Holocene. Nature 405, 753-754. Megaloceros has been suggested to be closely related to other genera of "giant deer", like the East Asian genus Sinomegaceros (whose species are sometimes included in Megaloceros) , and the European Praemegaceros.
In 1827 Joshua Brookes, in a listing of his zoological collection, named the Megaloceros (spelled Megalocerus in the earlier editions) in the following passage:Joshua Brookes (1827) "Brookesian Museum. The Museum of Joshua Brookes, Esq. Anatomical and Zoological Preparations" London Gold and WaltonLister, A M, 1987 Megaloceros Brookes 1828 Mammalia Artiodactyla Proposed Emendation Of The Original Spelling The Bulletin of zoological nomenclature. 44 255–256The etymology being from Greek: μεγαλος "great" + κερας "horn, antler". The type and only species named in the description being Megaloceros antiquorum, based on Irish remains now considered to belong to M. giganteus, making the former a junior synonym. The original description was considered by Adrian Lister in 1987 to be inadequate for a taxonomic definition. In 1828 Brookes published an expanded list in the form of a catalogue for an upcoming auction, which included the Latin phrase " Cornibus deciduis palmatis" ("palmate deciduous horns") as a description of the remains. The 1828 publication was approved by International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN) in 1977 as an available publication for the basis of zoological nomenclature. Adrian Lister in 1987 judged that "the phase " Cornibus deciduis palmatis" constitutes a definition sufficient under the [International Code of Zoological Nomenclature] (article 12) to validate Megalocerus." The original spelling of Megalocerus was never used after its original publication.
In 1844 Richard Owen named another synonym of the Irish elk, including it within the newly named subgenus Megaceros, Cervus ( Megaceros) hibernicus. This has been suggested to be derived from another junior synonym of the Irish elk described by J. Hart in 1825, Cervus megaceros. Despite being a junior synonym, Megaloceros remained in obscurity and Megaceros became the common genus name for the taxon. The combination " Megaceros giganteus" was in use by 1871. George Gaylord Simpson in 1945 revived the original Megaloceros name, which became progressively more widely used, until a taxonomic decision in 1989 by the ICZN confirmed the priority of Megaloceros over Megaceros, and Megaloceros to be the correct spelling.International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature 1989. Opinion 1566. Megaloceros Brookes, 1828 (Mammalia, Artiodactyla): original spelling emended. Bulletin of zoological nomenclature 46: 219–220.
The genus Megaloceros is widely agreed to belong the subfamily Cervinae. Megaloceros has often been placed in the tribe Megacerini, alongside other "giant deer" genera like Sinomegaceros and Praemegaceros, though the taxonomy regarding giant deer as whole is uncertain and contested. A close relationship with Sinomegaceros has been supported by mitochondrial DNA, which found that the mitochondrial sequences of M. giganteus are nested within those of Sinomegaceros, suggesting that the two lineages interbred with each other after the initial split between them, with all mitochondrial genomes of Sinomegaceros more closely related to those of M. giganteus than to their closest living relative Dama.
Relationships of Megaloceros mitochondrial genomes, after Xiao et al. 2023.
"M". stravpolensis from the Early Pleistocene of Southwestern Russia has been subsequently suggested to belong to Arvernoceros. The species " Megaloceros" cretensis from the island of Crete has been moved to the genus Candiacervus.
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